herb wrote:In Chicago it seemed like the Wolves lack of interest in playing our young guys affected at least partly the development of guys like Schroeder, Kassian, Archibald and Mallet who were given limited roles or bumped down to the ECHL. In Utica, the shitty team I'm sure has made things harder for our prospects.

Hopefully next year, with the likely additions of Fox and Gaunce, as well as continued improvement in net from Ericsson and Cannata, the team can be more competitive. Maybe we should hope for an early exit by the Erie Otters so these guys can get to Utica this season!

I would take a development team that frequently lost over a minor pro team that consistently won any day of the week. I would argue that the day-to-day challenges are a tad harder for them in Utica but I think the hard lessons learned with the ice time will serve them better in the pros. The real challenge is for them to maintain and build their confidence - which is a saw-off between either case whether you're winning but barely playing or losing but playing a ton. Oklahoma kicked some ass during the lockout with the kids down there, but where's Edmonton now?

Getting more prospects onto the farm (Fox, Gaunce and the college kids) can only help even if only to foster some competition for call-ups and give a better gauge on who's growing on the farm regardless of the score. Times like these I wish we could get some of these overagers into the 'A' already.

^ I agree, but confidence is important and losing wears on you, no matter if it’s a ‘development team’ or not. One good thing about Utica is that they are no longer consistently losing by blowout margins!

Lancer wrote:I would take a development team that frequently lost over a minor pro team that consistently won any day of the week.

Well, I'd say you have to see that "development team" graduate a couple of players who weren't all but guaranteed NHL looks (guys like Jensen, Corrado, Eriksson) before you can really call it that.

Chicago seemed to do okay with a guy like Darren Archibald who now seems like at least a fringe NHL player.

We'll see if they give guys like Grenier, Cannata, Tommernes, Andersson, Mallet et al what they need to develop into solid pros, obviously they won't all get there but if their success rate isn't any better than a "minor pro team" then I don't see much point.

Of course, as everyone else has said hopefully it's a moot point and next year they can have guys like Fox, Gaunce, Shinkaruk and maybe a player or two from the NCAA ranks join the club and fill out the middle of the roster. That and a high end AHL vet or two (rather than disappointments like Hamill) would give us a development team that can actually compete for a playoff spot.

herb wrote:I read this morning that Shinkaruk will be AHL eligible next season, which is awesome news if true.

Yeah, Shinkaruk turns 20 Oct 13, 2014, and as a CHL player is subject to:

"A player from the CHL has to either turn 20 by December 31st of the season, or have completed 4 seasons of junior eligibility. This agreement also covers European players if they are drafted out of the CHL."

herb wrote:I read this morning that Shinkaruk will be AHL eligible next season, which is awesome news if true.

Not making the Juniors was probably a good thing for him. He gets his surgery and has plenty of time rehab before camp. If he makes the team great but if not he will be ready for Utica. I can see him starting in Utica just because of his rehab. But either way he will get a chance to start his pro career.

Diehard1 wrote:One thing that you shouldn't do is post angry right after a loss. Yep the team looks like absolute shit right now but we all knew this part of the schedule was coming. Gets much easier from now on.

Let's see what happens over the next few games. Definitely need to score some goals, and if they don't win a round or two this post-season then major changes will be needed.

Reefer2 wrote:The entire team other than Lack and a couple others sucks balls.

But then are we surprised when MG did nothing in the off season to improve this team?

Another year wasted with no SC.

One thing that you shouldn't do is post angry right after a loss. Yep the team looks like absolute shit right now but we all knew this part of the schedule was coming. Gets much easier from now on.

Let's see what happens over the next few games. Definitely need to score some goals, and if they don't win a round or two this post-season then major changes will be needed.

I didn't post angry, hell this year I really don't care as much, but I did post the truth.

They still suck balls.

I'd hazard a guess that you haven't been a Nucks fan for more than 15 years. This is not sucking, the 80's and 90's were sucking. I'm too young to have watched in the 70's but they sucked then too.

This is still a playoff team and they should make it rather easily given their upcoming schedule. They suck balls if they were Edmonton, Calgary, Florida or Buffalo, not because they are a middle of the road team.

Diehard1 wrote:One thing that you shouldn't do is post angry right after a loss. Yep the team looks like absolute shit right now but we all knew this part of the schedule was coming. Gets much easier from now on.

Let's see what happens over the next few games. Definitely need to score some goals, and if they don't win a round or two this post-season then major changes will be needed.

I didn't post angry, hell this year I really don't care as much, but I did post the truth.

They still suck balls.

I'd hazard a guess that you haven't been a Nucks fan for more than 15 years. This is not sucking, the 80's and 90's were sucking. I'm too young to have watched in the 70's but they sucked then too.

This is still a playoff team and they should make it rather easily given their upcoming schedule. They suck balls if they were Edmonton, Calgary, Florida or Buffalo, not because they are a middle of the road team.

Not sure how you can lump the entire 90s into the suck. I happen to have loved the first half of that decade for this team. It was a coming of age. Linden entered the 90s w/ his 3rd season into the league at 20yrs of age; Quinn engineered the rebuilding of this team w/ savvy deals like the Butcher/Quinn trade which landed Courntall, Ronning, Momesso & Dirk among other deals; they landed their first bonafide superstar in Bure shortly after, they had several dominant seasons including a magical run to the finals, their first 50 goals scorer & major trophy winners. It all unfolded w/ the sale of the team to McCaw who fucked them at every turn...I suppose the beginning of the end was the handing of the keys to Arthur however (building a new team w/o the means to do so, bringing in the NBA to help pay for it and subsequently losing control of the franchise)...which led to the Gretzky snub and the Messier-spite-signing and subsequent Quinn firing...McCaw+Messier=3 solid seasons of shit. Following that it was an upwards trajectory towards more solid seasons w/ the Westcoast Express. They completely fell short of playoff expectations for sure but that era certainly didn't suck.

So I'd go as far as to say w/ 7 out 10 seasons they didn't suck. A roller coaster ride for sure but the 90s were alright in my books. I too lived through the Canucks in the 80s so I feel your pain there.